RIP Riverside chicks

Leslie Day holding a fallen chick - May 11, 2008

Cal Vornberger sent a note yesterday:

Hi Marie:

I went over to the 79^th St. nest early Sunday morning and found that all three chicks had not been seen by anyone in at least a day. I ran into Leslie Day there and a woman came up to us and said she saw the female take a dead chick from the nest and deposit it on the grass earlier. The woman picked it up and put it in the trash so the dogs would not get it.

Leslie and I retrieved it and I snapped this heartbreaking shot of her holding the dead chick. I called Lincoln and he came by later and got the carcass from Leslie. He is taking it to Ward Stone for a necropsy.

PS-- Cal Vornberger is a photographer, author of the book The Birds of Central Park

Leslie Day is a naturalist, author of the recently published Field Guide to the Natural World of New York City